Love is an art
by TipandMalarkey
Summary: It's summer and Clary is taking a break from demon hunting. She's decided to pick up her pencil again and continue with her old love. Someone unexpected shares her passion, will another love arise this holiday? Clarec, Fluff R
1. Chapter 1

Love is an art

Summer had finally come and the sun was just beginning to show its face and warm New York with its presence. Usually, Clary would draw the blooming flowers in the green house, as there was so much variety, but today she couldn't miss the opportunity to catch a little sun while practicing her artistic skills. The institute had a small garden, more of a court yard really, with one large oak tree in the centre surrounded by dustings of wild flowers. Clary sat on the sun-baked stone steps at the back of the institute, facing the garden with her back to the door. She had her worn sketchbook balancing on her knees and was lightly shading the drawing of the tree. Every now and then a warm breeze would rustle the leaves making them shudder and whisper. Satisfied with the sketch Clary flipped the book shut and leaned her head back, closing her eyes. She couldn't remember the last time she had felt this peaceful. Recently normal life had been shattered and she could barely breath without demons trying to murder her or these pesky shadowhunters following her where ever she went.

There was a sudden bang and Clary's eyes jerked opened and her head whipped round to identify the disturbance. Looking back towards the institute Clary saw Alec stumbling away from the door he had evidently just slammed. He didn't seem to notice Clary until he practically fell over her. "Argh" he managed to steady himself before falling. "Oh, by the angel. I'm so sorry Clary I didn't see you down there" Alec blushed a little mumbling out these words.

Clary was a little taken aback. She had only ever had a few full conversations with Alec and was not looking forward to having another. He, like herself, was shy and closed off from the rest of the world, conversations with him always started and ended awkwardly. "No, its fine. It was a kinda stupid place to sit…" She trailed off. The very presence of Alec just seemed awkward; he seemed so out of place in this bright colourful garden. He was all shadowy and dark. His skin was so pale it almost had no colour at all which was a massive contrast with his charcoal hair which lay in dishevelled layers framing his face. Unsurprisingly Alec's clothes were also dark; a mixture of blacks and browns. This boy was completely void of colour, apart from one aspect. His eyes. Everyone noticed his eyes; they were crystalline blue. Pale and dark at the same time. His piercing stare could be both hostile and gentle, there was no doubting it, Alec Lightwood's eyes were beautiful .

There were a few moments of silence before Alec abruptly said "I should probably get going." He was obviously trying to avoid Clary and any conversation.

As much as Clary wanted to let him go she felt it would be rude not to at least try to strike up conversation, anyway they live in the same house and know nothing about each other that seemed a little odd to Clary and she wanted to fix it. "Stay" she patted the step beside her, beckoning for him to sit "I could use some company." Alec hesitated but eventually sat down as far away from Clary as possible without seeming rude. For the first time Clary noticed Alec was holding something, holding it close to his body like he was trying to hide it. Peering round subtlety Clary had deduced it was a leather bound sketchbook or notepad. Excellent! She thought, finally some common ground. She had no idea Alec was an artist too, but then again, why would she? She knew nothing about this mysterious boy. Nodding towards the book she said "I didn't know you were an artist?"

Alec blushed deeply like he had just been discovered with a horrendous, dirty secret "Well… I'm not great. It's just a hobby really, not all of us get our kicks out of senseless murder." He was obviously referring to Jace his parabatai, who was fabulously talented with a blade. Clary smiled at his joke, at least he was trying.

In a moment of madness Clary reached around Alec and swiped the book from his hand "Let's see some of this Lightwood creativity then." She opened the book, cracking the spine a little and began flicking through the pages. Alec was good, really good. The pages were scattered with black ink pen drawings of various things; ornaments from the library, several sketches of church, landscapes (presumably fictional) and a few portraits of his family and friends. Alec protested a little but didn't put up much of a fight until Clary came across a certain portrait. Realising what it was, Alec tried to tear the book from her hand but Clary was too quick and spun around holding the book out of his reach. The picture was an amazing likeness of Clary, right down to every freckle. She had no idea Alec had been drawing her but she remembered the day that had been captured here. In the picture she was sat in the library, bundled up in a giant jumper, pouring over a book, lost in a fictional world. Alec had been there too, scribbling into a book, Clary had assumed he was taking notes about demonology or whatever he does but now she realised he must have been drawing this picture.

"Wow. This must look really stalkery. I look like a stalker. I'm not stalking you I promise." Alec ran a hand through his messy hair and looked like he was trying to think of something to say that wouldn't make Clary think he was insane.

Despite Alec's discomfort Clary laughed lightly "Alec stop. I don't think you're a stalker I think you have an amazing skill, can I keep this?" She asked gesturing at the picture. Clary was actually secretly pleased and very flattered that Alec had taken time to draw such a beautiful picture of her, she was also a little jealous of his talent.

Alec looked taken aback but agreed and ripped out the whole page before carefully rolling it up and placing it in Clary's hand. "From your stalker" he grinned shyly, yet slightly more at ease.

Clary whacked him on the arm with the roll of paper playfully "No, but seriously! I had no idea you could draw. I thought you just moped."

Alec gasped over dramatically putting a hand on his chest declaring "I do not mope!" This was a new side to Alec Clary had never seen, he was fun and joking. Maybe she could get to know this side, maybe she would even like him. Suddenly this boy was no longer the dark, miserable teenager that spent most of his time holed up in his room, but a potential new friend.

They joked a while longer until Alec had finally worked up the courage to blurt out "Your hair is so pretty." An awkward silence hung in the air and Clary's cheeks flushed pink making her freckles stand out even more. Subconsciously she tucked a few red strands behind an ear. She had always hated her flaming hair, it was a nightmare to tame and she had broken many a hairbrush trying to flatten the hellish curls. Not to mention all the nasty comments and bullying it had attracted when she was younger, certainly nobody but her mother had called her hair pretty. Not until now. "Not really helping my 'I'm not a stalker case'-"

Before Alec could ramble on Clary cut in "No, thank you, I don't get told that a lot. It was nice to hear it just once. I'm not often told that anything about me is pretty." Clary stopped herself before she could sound too pathetic. Alec looked like he wanted to say something but he stopped himself.

Brushing off his trousers Alec stood up and grabbed his drawing book, he stood there for a moment before declaring "Uh, I should probably go help Izzy make the dinner- well that's if she hasn't burnt it already." Before turning back toward the institute Alec gave Clary what she thought could've been the beginning of a smile but it was fleeting and soon gone along with him, leaving Clary alone again.


	2. Chapter 2

Love is an art

**I do not own these fabulous characters (unfortunately) Oh and by the way Max is still alive here yaaaaaaaaay**

Chapter 2

After a few moments of searching through a draw of stacked papers and random paintbrushes Clary eventually found what she was look for. It was still even in its original packaging from back when she bought it, it had never been opened let alone used; perfect! Originally Clary had bought the pen for herself, it was a sleek black ink pen, and for some reason she had bought it thinking she could do some amazing inky sketches. Later Simon had pointed out that whenever she used ink it seemed to find its way onto every thing in reach, Clary's fingers would be stained, her t-shirt ruined and carpet destroyed. Most of the time she even managed to get some on her face in black streaks. Due to this the pen had been discarded and replaced for Clary's usual pencils. She had completely forgotten she still owned the pen until yesterday when she'd seen some drawings using a similar sort of pen and Clary couldn't bare for it to be forgotten and unused. She knew the perfect person to give it to.

"What's wrong?" Alec asked startled. Clary thought it was sad he would just immediately presume something was wrong due to the fact she had knocked on his door and was standing right outside his room.

"Wrong, why would anything be wrong?" She answered her question with a question.

Alec looked uncomfortable "Well...why else would you be here... in my room...well not _in_ my room, right outside my room..knocking on my door..." he trailed off slightly as if he was embarrassed by his rambling.

Clary smiled brightly, despite the Lightwood boy's embarrassed "Um... can I come in I brought you something." Alec gave Clary a puzzled look but stepped back and held the door open and swept his arm deeply, beckoning her in.

"Please, enter my humble" he said with mock did what she was told and peered around, inspecting his room. It was not what she was expecting at all. If she was being honest Clary was expecting Alec's room to be a reflection of his outward appearance; dark and 'mopey.' In reality it was very different. Countless hand drawn pictures littered the white-washed walls. The bed sheets were a pale blue and pulled neatly over his double bed. The window was thrust open letting in a warm summer glow and the soft hum of traffic outside. Absent-mindedly Clary wandered over to the wall made of pages from sketchbooks, she would never get tired of looking at Alec's art, he had such a unique style. Lost in the pictures and her own thought Clary was momentarily surprised when she felt a presence behind her, watching her. She turned around and saw Alec looking down at her, he was tall towering way over Clary. She stared at him for a moment, forgetting why she had come here and he was staring expectantly back. Alec cleared his throat and finally spoke "So whta did you bring me?"

Breaking out of her weird little trance Clary's hand went to her pocket and brought out the ink pen "Right... its just this pen. Nothing special special, I mean I've had it for a while now. It hasn't been used or anything but I thought maybe you would have a use for it since I don't. After I saw your drawings yesterday I remembered it lying lonely at the bottom of my draw and I thought 'since I never use it maybe Alec can give it a new home'." It was Clary's turn to ramble now. She felt stupid, it was just a stupid pen. Alec probably didn't care about her stupid pen, what was she even doing here?

However despite Clary's fears Alec accepted the pen graciously and seemed to be oddly touched by it "Thanks Clary, that's actually really cool of you." He walked over to the desk, Clary hadn't noticed it before, and set the pen down beside about 15 others, varying in colour. Alec was still facing the desk away from Clary, his shoulders hunched in thought. There still wasn't a lot to talk about in this new found friendship so Clary waited silently in hope that Alec would continue the conversation. Eventually he spoke "I'm supposed to be going to pick up lunch from Takis so...! _Oh_, Clary thought, Alec was kicking her out, was she really that boring or annoying? He probably didn't even need to go, it probably just some ploy to get rid of her. Clary hung her head in dejection but then Alec spoke again "Unless you want to come with me?" When Clary didn't reply he turned "Or not, don't worry you probably have better things to be doing anyway."

Clary stopped him before he could change his mind "Actually, I don't. Sure I'll come with you. I mean I wouldn't want to deprive you of my fabulous company. I'll just go get a jacket, meet you downstairs?" Alec didn't have a chance to reply as Clary bounded out the room, her red hair bouncing behind her in a torrent of curls. Oddly Clary was feeling nervous, she had a jittery stomach and sweaty palms, why was she so nervous? It was just her and Alec going to pick up lunch...together..alone. Shaking her head Clary told herself not to be so ridiculous, its not like this is a date. It was more of an errand really, they were just picking up lunch, not just for themselves the whole institute. Yes, an errand. Never the less Clary picked out her new, sexy leather jacket and even brushed her hair before rushing downstairs to meet Alec.

It was an awkward walk to Takis. Neither were very good at making conversation (as previously discovered) so the journey was quiet in the exception that every now and again Alec would point out something he said he wanted to draw. Eventually they got to Takis and were waiting in line to order everyone's lunch when Alec's phoned buzzed. He looked down at the text and sighed "Well apparently this is a wasted trip. Izzy's decided she doesn't want take out fro here and has ordered pizza. Or though I highly suspect Jace had something to do with that." Alec started to turn then changed his mind. Uncharacteristically he grabbed Clary's sleeve and pulled her towards a table "However that doesn't stop us from getting lunch. Anyway this way we can eat it." Clary was a little surprised but didn't protest to the idea as her stomach gave a rumble and she knew they did did mouth-watering pancaked here with heaps of syrup.

After a moment of looking at the menu Alec ordered his usual salad and Clary ordered said pancakes. The waitress gathered up the menus and informed she would be back soon with their food. Alec squinted at Clary "Why are you ordering pancakes, its lunchtime, pancakes are for breakfast."

Clary squinted her eyes back at him in return "I am a mature woman. I can make the concious decision to eat pancakes at lunch if I so desire. Anyway why are" she pointed her fork at Alec "having a salad. I mean who eats salad if they're not on a diet. And I know for a fact you are not on a diet because you have an amazing body." What! Had Clary really just said this? Avoiding Alec's eyes Clary stared down at the table, suddenly finding it very interesting. She could feel a hot flushed spreading up the back of her neck and across her face.

Suddenly Alec made a spluttering sound and when she looked up Clary realised he was laughing. A smile was tugging at his lips and his eyes were sparkling in amusement "Really? Is that so?" It appeared he was still trying to hide his laughter.

Mumbling, Clary tried not to make any more of a fool of herself "Yeah, you know, cos you're a shadowhunter you have to be pretty muscley. There's no room for excess body fat in this profession." She tried to say it matter of factly.

Alec just nodded and went along with "Yeah, yeah of course" his phone buzzed again in his pocket. "Urgh go away Isabelle" he muttered to the phone.

"You can answer her if you want, I don't mind."

"No that would be rude. Anyway weren't you just telling me how hot I was?" He grinned slyly but at the same time it was shy with just the right about of adorableness. He was still smiling, which he didn't seen to do very often but when he did it light up his whole face. Again Clary noticed the blue of his eyes; so bright and clear, ringed in a darker blue- God he was beautiful-_wait what!_ Where had that come from. Her mind was racing with strange thoughts and much to her embarrassment she was gawking at Alec.

"Urmm... earth to Clary. It was a joke,I'm joking. I'm not that full of myself. I'm not Jace" he was looking at Clary from beneath long, feathery eyelashes. His phone rang this time and he fished it out his pocket, to Clary's surprise he switched it off.

"Won't she be angry?"

Alec chuckled "I think I can handle Isabelle."

"I don't think anyone can'handle' Izzy" Clary muttered.

"I wouldn't be so sure, I mean Max has her wrapped around his little finger." He smiled obviously remembering some happy memory "But then again everyone adores Max I can't think why he's annoying as hell!"

Finally the food arrived and Clary was able to tuck into her stack of pancakes, she scoffed them down like someone suffering from starvation. She was finished in a matter of minutes and she settled back in her chair to admire the empty plate. Chancing a quick glance at Alec she noticed he was leisurely eating his dreaded salad and looking at her with a laugh in his eyes.

"Hungry?"

"Don't patronise me Lightwood. A don't sit there staring at me with you and your judgemental salad!"

"I object! This salad is not judgemental. I on the other hand may be slightly judging- how do you eat so fast!"

"Ah, shut up. I like my food what can I say."

Alec and Clary were finally making it out of the awkward conversations and were becoming at ease with each other. Clary was finally beginning to enjoy herself until they were disturbed suddenly.

"Alexander!" a shout boomed from the door and a golden figure stalked towards their table.

"Oh good the cavalry, Jace what-" Alec stopped his joking tone when he saw Jace's seriousness.

"Remind me again why you even have a phone if you never bother to answer it." Jace was practically fuming

"Jace what's going on? I turned it of for a second and-"

"Disaster struck. Yes it did actually. While you were here enjoying your little lunch date we had an actual emergency back at the institute" Jace lowered his voice "We were under attack."

Alec's head snapped up, his eyes shot wide "What! Attack who- are Izzy and Max okay, is anyone hurt?" Alec was asking all the questions Clary wanted answers to as well.

Jace shook his head and rested a hand on Alec's shoulder, presumably for comfort "You better come home...now, Alec." Alec shook Jace's hand of a stormed out the door with out a backward glance at Clary or his parabatai.


End file.
